Subj: Fwd: The EarthBound Gang: Part 4 (The Real Part 4) of 5 of Issue 99 Newslet...
Date: 08/19/1999 9:51:08 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: CrazedMogX
To: CrazedMogX
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Forwarded Message:
Subj: The EarthBound Gang: Part 4 (The Real Part 4) of 5 of Issue 99 Newsletter
Date: 08/03/1999 12:05:37 AM Eastern Daylight Time
From: EBG Ness
BCC: CrazedMogX
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Issue 99 of the EarthBound Gang Newsletter
August 2, 1999
Check out the new newsletter Format.
Part 4 of 5
Still reading yet?
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Anime
The Power of Anime: Jon Ls God
The Power of Anime
Have you ever been in awe at the sight of extraordinary computer graphics? Or engulfed by the deep feeling attached in the symphonic score of your favorite game? I am now going to ask you this one question ... have you felt the power of anime?
..::By J·Anthony::..
Recently in the gaming world, Anime has been a key to success, where only in the intro and ending or throught-out the whole game. Especially in great sellers as Wild ARMs, Lunar: The Silver Star Story Complete and Tales of Destiny. Whether the game is lacking gameplay, for me at least, the game is still acceptable if the anime is worth my viewing.
Now in a major boom of popularity, Japanese Animation has become as normal in video games and movies as your clothes are. Anime is everywhere, and it affects a lot of things outside -- like movies, music, etc. Recently, Disney did a preview on Tarzan's animators. "We were influenced by Japanese animation, and used familiar characteristics", says an animator.
Since anime is not made in America, it must be imported from Japan... either from stores or websites. But, most BlockBuster's and Hollywood Video's carry a limited amount of anime, so if you want to score some, there would be a first choice.
If your lucky enough to find a store that imports movies, consider yourself in luck because its rare. Movies are bountiful, and soundtracks and games run amuck. Ahhh heaven.
Many popular shows are also Japanese Anime... namely Pokemon and Sailor Moon, and the newcomer to American culture, Dragon Ball Z. Because of many censorships, all these shows have been edited so you may not witness all the violence, story, or scenes because of its bad content. Unfortunately, there is not much anything we can do to stop this, so you may have to rely on importing if you want to see unedited animation.
After reading this article, have you felt the power of anime?
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Anime Answered by MichaelD9
Anime Answered - MichaelD9
Hi everyone and welcome to the first column on Anime Answered. Here, I will try to inform all of you about the wonderful world of anime. However, in order to understand anime, I need to teach you some vocabulary. Basically, there only are two to three new words per column and they will help you understand what I am saying. Here's the vocabulary for this week:
Anime - It's basically Japanese Animation that is drawn with over-exaggerated eyes, hair, and expressions. It's extremely popular in Japan as well as the U.S. It could involve some nudity, but most of the good series don't have it.
Fansub - A tape from Japan with English subtitles on the bottom. It's unedited and a LOT better than U.S. episodes.
Otaku - An anime fan.
In this article, I will be discussing the downside of bringing anime to the U.S. Now, I bet that you are all wondering why I would oppose such a thing because I am an anime fan. The bottom line is that they edit down the content in the anime that it practically ruins the story. Some of the more popular anime like Pokemon, Dragonball Z, and Sailor Moon are heavily edited. Let's start with Sailor Moon. On average 2 episodes from Japan is crunched into one because the U.S. censors think that some scenes are "inappropriate". Most scenes are truthfully not.
This is an exaggeration, but saying the word damn surely isn't offensive and the censors don't have to get rid of the entire scene. Next is Pokemon, it's not edited due to nudity, swearing, etc., but instead it's edited due to cultural differences. But, then again it is a kid show and therefore, it doesn't have swearing or nudity. Last, but DEFINITELY not least is Dragonball Z. That is ONE heavily edited show! 2 or sometimes even 3 Japanese episodes are condensed into one English episode. At times the storyline does not make sense and it's all due to the fact that the censors don't want the U.S. seeing blood. I bet that you could find a lot of pages explaining the edits. Go to www.planetnamek.com , click on Fansubs. There should be a link to how many episodes were combined in Japan to make one U.S. episode.
Anyway, this gets me to my next point, fansubs. Look at the vocabulary at the top and you can see what one is. Fansubs bring anime to the U.S. in their unedited form. Basically, people go to Japan, buy the tapes of the series, put subtitles on them and distribute them to anime fans in the U.S. Most people charge around 5-6 dollars a tape and you also usually get 4 episodes on each tape. Anyway, that's it for this week. Next week's topic: Fansubs where you get them and what tapes you should get. If you want some more information on anime, or if you have any questions, feel free to ask MichaelD9@aol.com if I like your question, I'll answer it in the newsletter. I would also like some feedback on the column. Please e-mail me on the address above. Thank you!
Mike
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Editorials: (Last Week) {What do you think of Emulation}
Last week I hit upon a big issue, what did you think about Emulation and ROM's. Well, upon reading all 51 I got. I picked the best.. and most of the ones I picked said the Same thing. If the game is unavailable in your area, out of production, or you are too poor to afford the game (And I mean Poor as in family difficulties) than it is legal. Take a look for yourself.
((Warning, these articles are not my views and contain vulgar language, Not responsible and by reading on, you accept the bad language and instigations.))
John McCeb
I'm divided on this issue. Emulation should be illegal for some reasons. For one, companies do lose money off of emulation. This causes game prices to rise. Higher game prices to less buyers to game industry crash. If you've ever seen Playing God, you'd recognize it as point A to point B to Point C. And it goes on. Shit, there goes our primary source of blowing off steam. Let's go join a fucking gang, start talkin smack, kill a few mother fucking homies, and go to prision for the rest of our fucking lives! Doesn't that sound fun? Hey, wait a second! With no game market, why are there game magazines on the shelves? Boom, there go a few hundred jobs.
Why is it so damn popular anyways? Because it makes you look cool? I feel sorry for someone that thinks emulation makes you look cool. YO YO YO I'M CHEESY3 16 YO (If you're a longtime member of the EB Community like Matingly22, you'd understand. Otherwise, just call him Mr. Big Dumb Fuck.) ID RATHER SEARCH FOR AOWERS ON END YO AND FIND A NONEXSTENT WEBSIGHT YO FOR MY FAVORITE GAME AND AND EMULATOR YO AND DOWNLOAD IT FOR FREE YO THEN TO GET OFF MY ASS HAHAHA I SAID ASS YO AND FIND A JOB YO TO EARN THE MONEY YO AND GET THE GAME I WANT YO YO YO YO MY IQ TEST CAME IN YO I GOT A 95 YO OUT OF 1500 YO.
On the other hand, Emulation should be legalized in certain cases. Like NES emulation. Or what about games that never made it to the shores, like Mother 1 (EarthBound 0)? You could download Emus and Roms as backups. How about games that have been discontinued? Like Worms. I don't know if you've ever heard of Worms, but it was this fun little game that became an instant hit. What was the plot? No plot. Did anyone give a fuck? No. The whole concept was worms blowing and beating the shit out of each other. This, in my belief, achived the same status as EarthBound. You can't find any of the Worms games anymore (unless they still have the third of its series, Armageddon). I believe Worms 1 and 2 were discontinued. But what luck...there was an SNES version of the game, and I downloaded it. Still as fun as I remember it. So I am torn. But one thing I don't wanna see, though...The Big Manipulative N or any other video game company complaining in court about a game they've discontinued being emulated--and winning. "Whine whine whine, this is stealing" "Court rules in favor of Funland Video Game Company." You know what? I don't wanna see them whining about it, PERIOD. Because if you don't make money off the fucking game anymore, and you're complaining that this is stealing, THEN WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU COMPLAINING?
Of course, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.
FMBW 15
As any emulation expert will tell you, emulation is legal 100%. You can have emulators (provided they aren't made using stolen bios, and Dave got screwed for having the PSX bios on his site) or program emulators all you want. WinX is an emulator also. It does not emulate a game system, but allows windows programs to be run in linux. Anyway, those of us with ethics will not emulate any system that has not been off the market for 3 years. Emulation should only be used to play games you can't go out and buy. You're not hurting the companies because they no longer sell the games. The only company you're hurting is Funco, and they are on the border of legality anyway.
Caj8585
There really is no correct answer on emulation. I personally feel that, if the system is officialy retired (no games have been released for months, and none are in development), then it should be legalized. Most stores, in trying to keep up with the market, abandon their old merchandise to invest in the newest product on the market. Thus, it becomes extremely difficult to find, say, an original NES or a 1994 SNES game. Emulation for those games should be legal, as their is no further market for the games.
However, emulation of the current consoles in the market (Playstation, Nintendo 64, and the upcoming Dreamcast) should not be legal. These systems and their games are in their primes, and thus are still making money. For example, three years after its release, Super Mario 64 is still in the top 20 Nintendo 64 games (according to the Nintendo Power ranking charts). Emulation of these games would mean that most people would rather pay nothing to download an emulator and ROM instead of $50 for a game.
These are my views on emulation. For the older, dead systems, I think it should be legalized, for the current ones, illegal.
AntEBwizDX
I have been Pro Emulation For a while now. My Full thoughts on emulation are this: If the system is dead, let's be able to use it. Emulation is meant to be the preserveing of CLassic games, just some idiots make it look like its all about Pirating. I see nothing wrong with Atari, Apple 2, NES or even SNES emulation. Some companie's like Nintendo of America however, See it as were making them lose money. NOA Recently shut down the SNES Emulation Centre, Which had NOTHING, I repeat, NOTHING Illegal on it. No ROMs, Just SNES Technical Information and some ROM Hacking Devices. Sure, There are illegalities (I am against N64 Emulation) but As I stand by Emulation, I believe it to be the Preservation of the time when Games were about one thing: Game play.And anyone who makes it seem like its Illegal, should know we are NOT pirating, there not even losing MONEYt. In fact, in a recent poll, Emulation is HELPING company sales! Emulation Should be legal.
StingKix23
I think it shouldn't be legal becuz when the people that put their time into these games they make for us and people make them on the internet the oringal creaters dont get the money they should get. Now if they could buy the emulators and rom's online instead for a slight cheaper prices, That should happen but I doubt it will. I myself buy games and not get the emulators and roms but I do see ALOT of sites with that stuff. Emulation should be illegal and they should have a program that scans your computer when you goto a site for like a check up which you need for like a car. It should be like that. You goto a site to get a checkup every 3 months or so and it'll check your comp for hacks,serials,cracks,emulators,etc and if u have some it should shut your comp off the net and display a message: Please get rid of the hacks,serials,etc and come back for your check-up and say Status: Failed. And then if u have nothing say: You passed the check-up Status: Passed. It should be like a quick scan. It should also scan for virus. Or fake Virus.. Well I think that they should do something with emulation becuz its starting to get out of hand and soon, there will be every system on the net.. I also think N64's idea with the DD is a great idea becuz u cant get a emulatior for that system. Becuz Emulater's won't read the games unless u have the CD. Just like the Playstation.. Now I think if they buy the game for the real system ( at home ) then they should be able to download the rom/emulator and they should have a # on the inside so they can register it so they could get it for sure with the game. Well thats just what I think. I hope u post this in yo newsletter. YO NEWSLETTER ROCKZ!!!!
Editorials: (This Week) {Assisted Suicide. Right or wrong}
Wow, The title even gets people worried. What about Assisted Suicide. What do you think about that. In Ohio, Alaska, and Washington it is legal. It tried becoming legal in Flordia, Texas, California, and Michigan. But failed.
But what do you think... Allow me to give 2 scenarios that show the good possibilities and the bad.
Scenario 1: You are depressed. You lost your job, bills are behind, 2 kids to feed ect. You're having a rough time in your life. All of a sudden, you have an idea. All you have to do is go see the doctor and everything will be over. With the doctor assisting you in suicide, it will be easy, painless, and everything will be over. Problems solved. ((This was the bad scenario BTW))
Scenario 2: You are in the hospital. You have a hard time for survival. You are paralyzed from the neck down, and blind. It is basically impossible for you to perform your life functions without machines and to sta alive, you are on machines. But, You have learned that assisted suicide can be taken and it will put you to sleep permanently. ((Somewhat better Scenario))
The question asked today: Should assisted suicide be permited or not?
Mail your editorials here
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Various News this week:
240 killed in India Train Crash so far.
240 people so far have been killed in a train crash that has occured in Gaisal India yesterday when 2 express trains with people as cargo collided head on leaving injuries in both trains. Resuce workers and the India army are all trying to get the esitmated 170 people still stuck in the train. Another 400 or so injuries have arrisn from the collision as the trains crashed that night. Over 2200 passagners were in both trains.
Heat Breaks as the death from the heat rises.
CHICACO (AP) - Cooler temperatures brought some relief today to the scorching heat that has struck much of the Midwest and East, but the death toll kept rising. The nationwide total since July 19 is at least 213 deaths attributed to the heat. Deaths were reported in 20 states and many shared a tragic thread: People most at risk from the heat were often the ones who wouldn't - or couldn't - wrap themselves in the icy blast of an air conditioner. Illinois officials reported that the hot weather has contributed to the deaths of 95 people, up from 80 on Sunday. The state with the next highest total is Missouri, with 44.
Intel Starts making FLASH memory chips.
Flash memory cards are snack-cracker size wafers popular for storing data in digital cameras, handheld devices, and other consumer products. For such devices, these tiny chips essentially serve as hard drives.
The 128MB StrataFlash card announced by Intel today not only can hold more data than its predecessors, it can retrieve information at a faster rate.
Competition is increasing fierce in this space with Simple Technology, Kingston Memory, and others fighting for dominance in the growing market.
Intel's continued move into the flash memory market is symbolic partly of the company's effort to diversify its product line. While Intel's chips still earn the majority of the revenue, the company has moved into other areas, such as graphics chipsets, as well as expanded emphasis on less-well-known product lines.
Digital cameras are one popular user of flash memory cards. The PhotoPC 800 digital camera from Epson stores up to 10 high quality images on a single-capacity 8MB flash memory card. Higher-capacity cards offer more efficient storage.
Microsoft and AOL battle over the AIM.
America Online (AOL) and Microsoft (MSFT) continued their "cat and mouse" battle over instant messaging this past weekend, even as they separately issued high-minded calls to set messaging standards.
For two weeks, Microsoft has continued to release messaging software to allow its Microsoft Network users to communicate with users of AOL (AOL) 's Instant Messenger Service. AOL, in turn, keeps blocking the software, company officials said.
At the same time, both AOL and Microsoft said they are ready to begin peace talks, but only on their respective terms. The two giants have been dueling since July 23 when Microsoft and Yahoo (YHOO) first began releasing their respective instant messaging software to reach AOL users. While Microsoft has been persistent, Yahoo has given up trying to bypass AOL's blocking tactics.
Sources from news include AOL, Yahoo, C-Net, Detroit News, New Yorker, and the Phillidelphia Times.
Non EB and Various Trivia (Last Week)
Non EB Trivia
Question: What is the deepest part of the Alantic Ocean called?
Clue: It has the word "Trench" in it.
Answer: I only gave you it last week. It is the Purto Rico Trench.
Winners: HHHHbKDX11, Barret82, Astrodude0, Grouchosix, AntIcloud, Goldkman64, Keatonmill, Snesman64, CBABQ3, Mik042, Hatter78, Slimbobway
If you got the above trivia correct, Click Below.
I want a promotion for getting a trivia question right!!
I want a token for getting the trivia right
Various Trivia
Question: I am going to name a list of 10 words. Tell me what they have in common:
Tree Door Book Steel Spoon Seem Zoo Sleep Moon Soon
Answer: They all have double Vowels. DUH
Winners: HHHBKDX11, ApplekidIQ99, CanmanCI, Cdyfoxster, Barret82, Buckdawg23, Biff714, Krzypimps, OaFrankFly, MikroKow, MichaelD9, Jago77777, XcirrusX, KingDuky, Caj8585, KeatonMill
If you got the above trivia correct, Click Below.
I want a promotion for getting a trivia question right!!
I want a token for getting the trivia right
Non EB and Various Trivia (This Week)
Non EB Trivia
Question: Where did we get the names of the days of the week from?
Clue: Its an old language. Very famous too!
Difficulty: 7
Source of Answer: Norm Johnsons guide to Astromony
Click here to submit the Non EB Trivia Answers
Various Trivia
Question: I have 3 apples. I give 2 away, Double the amount I have then.. Gain 6 more, Give 4 more away, Triple that amount of apples. Tripple it again, and divide it up into crates of 6. How many crates will I need?
Clue: Under 25 Crates.
Difficulty: 6
Source of Answer: John Johnsons Algerbraic II story problems of induction.
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Part 4 of 5 of the EarthBound Gang Newsletter
Issue 99
Only 1 more part to go.
This has pictures and stuff... As well as having the Music, and TV Trivia.
EBGNess<--- Is getting tired now. VERY long NL.